Who translated The New York Times’ yeshiva report into Yiddish? It’s a closely guarded secret!

 

By Zach Golden September 16, 2022

“The last decree that was similar to this one in its evil was when the Communists came to power in Russia, and at once collapsed Jewish education within their newly formed Soviet Union,” lamented the Hasidic Yiddish-language bulletin on Yiddish24.

The “evil decree” in question is newly approved secular education regulations for New York’s private schools [https://forward.com/fast-forward/517567/new-york-orthodox-schools-regents-vote-p-12]. They come days after The New York Times revealed that most Hasidic students are not testing at grade-level in English or math. (The release of the report was likely timed to the vote.)

Hasidic leaders fear these new government-imposed rules will undermine their religious education system and ultimately destroy it [https://forward.com/fast-forward/517092/new-york-hasidic-yehivas-times-yeshivas-summary]. But even worse for them, the news of just how poorly Hasidic students are faring is circulating within the community — in Yiddish.

The NYT report has been translated into an extraordinarily high-quality Hasidic dialect of Yiddish. The online version has been widely read and shared on Hasidic online forums [https://forward.com/forverts-in-english/517577/why-the-new-york-times-translated-its-hasidic-yeshiva-investigation-into-yiddish]. A PDF version [https://twitter.com/katlekanye/status/1570173594444914695], created to circumvent the community’s strict internet filters, has also been making the rounds.  [DAK NOTE:  the pdf version referred to is attached]

A mystery translator

In the Hasidic community, even worse than people who reject their way of life are those perceived as betraying their own community. Known as moyserim, or informers, they can face harassment, excommunication or even extrajudicial violence [https://www.jta.org/2020/10/14/opinion/what-is-a-moser-the-ugly-complicated-history-of-judaisms-most-dangerous-accusation].

Is It Antisemitic to ask why Chassidic boys aren’t entitled to literacy

 

Eve Sacks of Nahamu, a think-tank lobbying on harms in the Charedi community, reflects on the impact of the New York Times' expose on how yeshivahs are funded and operated.

 I’ve lost count of the number of people who sent me a link to the New York Times expose on Chassidic yeshivahs [https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/11/nyregion/hasidic-yeshivas-schools-new-york.html; https://groups.google.com/g/child-protect-18/c/5gb7ApQSA9I/m/Oyy1MwCtAAAJ]. 

It included material that had previously been reported including the lack of secular education and the use of corporal punishment. What was new was that yeshivahs in New York are claiming government funds allocated for disadvantaged students but are not providing the services that the funds were meant to support.

I have met dozens of young men who, often in broken English, have recounted their experiences. However, I was not aware of the New York yeshivah’s ability to access public funds. In the UK we are used to government funded faith schools, but these schools are carefully monitored; and one Ofsted “inadequate” rating puts the school into special measures with high levels of oversight. In the USA with the strict division of Church and State, I understood that all faith schools are privately funded.

List of 82 Democrats who called GOP election wins illegitimate or stolen

D emocrats and their media allies have sought to stigmatize Republicans concerned about 2020 voting irregularities as "election deniers," yet scores of leading Democrats have themselves raised concerns about elections won by Republicans since 2000, including claiming elections were stolen and attempting to change the outcome of presidential elections by objecting to the certification of state electoral college votes.

In the Senate race in Washington, for instance, Democratic Sen. Patty Murray's campaign recently slammed her GOP opponent Tiffany Smiley for her stance on election integrity, calling it "way out of line with the truth and way out of line with Washington voters."

"Tiffany Smiley is yet another MAGA Republican who is scrambling to hide her extreme views after the primary," Murray campaign spokesperson Naomi Savin told Axios.

Murray, however, put out a statement on Jan. 6, 2005 expressing her agreement with fellow Democrats who had "raised questions about voting irregularities" in the 2004 presidential election.

In a statement to the Washington Free Beacon, Smiley campaign spokeswoman Elisa Carlson said that Murray was "a hypocrite and has no business attacking anyone over protecting democracy."

"She questioned the integrity of a presidential election 18 years ago, supports Democrat efforts to boost election-denying candidates, and opposes common-sense laws like voter ID requirements," Carlson added.

Murray didn't respond to a request for comment.

Immediately below are 10 representative examples of election denial by leading Democrats, followed by a link to a more extensive list:

1. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has at least questioned, if not outright denied, the outcomes of the 2000, 2004, and 2016 presidential elections, as well as the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election. She said that the Supreme Court "took away a presidency," following the 2000 presidential election, in its ruling in Bush v. Gore. Clinton also repeatedly claimed that Trump was "an illegitimate president."
2. Then-President Bill Clinton said regarding the 2000 presidential election, "The only way [Republicans] could win the election was to stop the voting in Florida."
3. Former President Jimmy Carter said regarding the 2000 presidential election, "There is no doubt in my mind that Al Gore was elected president." Concerning the 2016 presidential election, he said: "I think a full investigation would show that Trump didn't actually win the election in 2016. He lost the election, and he was put into office because the Russians interfered on his behalf."
4. Former Vice President Al Gore said of the 2000 presidential election, "I believe that if everyone in Florida who tried to vote had had his or her vote counted properly, that I would have won."
5. President Joe Biden, when he was still vice president, said regarding Gore and the 2000 presidential election, "I think he won it, anyway." During the 2020 presidential race, in response to a supporter calling Trump "an illegitimate president," Biden asked if she'd be his vice presidential candidate and said he "absolutely agree[d]" with her.
6. When Vice President Kamala Harris was still a California senator, she said, "Let's say this loud and clear: Without voter suppression, Stacey Abrams would be the governor of Georgia; Andrew Gillum is the governor of Florida." 
7. When former President Barack Obama was an Illinois senator, he said that "not every vote was being counted" in the 2000 presidential election.
8. John Kerry, now Biden's special presidential envoy for climate, said following his defeat in the 2004 presidential election that "too many people were denied their right to vote; too many who tried to vote were intimidated."
9. Stacey Abrams, who is again running as the Democratic nominee for governor in Georgia, said she would "not concede" the 2018 gubernatorial election in her state and that she "did win my election."
10. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), now the House Financial Services Committee chair, said in 2001 that she was objecting "to the fraudulent Florida electoral votes" in the 2000 presidential election and that she didn't "care that [the objection] is not signed by a member of the Senate." Gore, who was presiding over the joint session of Congress as president of the Senate, responded that "the rules do care."

Below follows a longer (but not exhaustive) list of 82 examples of Democrat election denial: 

Satmar Very Upset that BIden has More cars in his Motorcade than they do!

 

Biden's motorcade arriving in London last night, these are the same people telling you about "climate change" pic.twitter.com/7FapV23sCl

— Ruthann (@TeaBoots) September 18, 2022

What's Really Behind the "Toe Shaitels?"

 

by Shoshanna Keats Jaskoll

I’ve shared many shocking things on social media — from female politicians being pixelated by Haredi media outlets, to girls replaced with dolls next to images of real boys, to pamphlets blaming women’s wig and skirt lengths for COVID-19 and other natural disasters…

But none has gotten such immediate and intense reactions as those elicited by the “fake toe” ad (above).

When I posted it, I did not know whether it was real or not. I have seen so much insanity and fake “tznius” (modesty) ads and declarations that, honestly, it could have gone either way.

The reactions poured in.

Outrage, shock, and mostly people begging me to reassure them that it was fake.

But I couldn’t! Until a good friend put me out of my misery and let me know that it was satire — and that she knew who had created it.

Wanting others not to suffer from the possibility that the ad was real, I posted on social media — on the various pages of the organization I cofounded to combat exactly this kind of thing when it’s real, Chochmat Nashim, and my own accounts as well, that it was satire.

Many people did not believe me, and they were justified in doubting, because the people who created the ad were so committed to it that they had included a phone number in the ad, and answered calls that continued the conversation as though the ad were real.

Now it is time to set the record straight, and I’m here to help them do so.

The people who made the ad want to keep their identities private, and, as much as I’m all about women having a voice and showing themselves in images, I believe that their message is important enough that I’m helping them spread the word (I promise, it’s not me behind the scenes. I’m just not that creative — and I have no poker face. And besides, if I’d done it, I’d be thrilled to let you know I pulled it off!)

What follows is their explanation.

‘Give the Palestinians State to Which They Are Entitled" .. Biden at the UN

 

President Joe Biden told world leaders on Wednesday that the US is committed to Israel’s security, “full stop” — but in his next breath advocated for citizens of the Palestinian Authority to be given “the state to which they are entitled.”

In his remarks to the United Nations General Assembly, Biden said, “We will continue to advocate for lasting, negotiated peace between the Jewish and democratic State of Israel and the Palestinian people.

“The United States is committed to Israel’s security, full stop.

“And a negotiated two-state solution remains in our view the best way to ensure Israel’s security and prosperity for the future and give the Palestinians the state to which they are entitled.

“Both sides to fully respect the equal rights of their citizens. Both people enjoying an equal measure of freedom and dignity.”

Biden waited until the final ten minutes of his 81-minute speech to drop that bombshell.

Israel’ Prime Minister Yair Lapid is expected to deliver a similar statement during his own remarks at the General Assembly scheduled for Thursday. An official close to the caretaker prime minister told reporters that he, too, is planning to issue an explicit call for a two state solution.

However, there is a caveat, the official said: “We will not do anything that will endanger the security of Israel and Israelis by even a centimeter, but separation from the Palestinians must be part of our diplomatic vision, part of the hope through strength worldview.”

And of course, a state along Israel’s borders in which not one Jew is allowed, and those who sell land to Jews are sentenced to life in prison at best, and death at the worst, would not endanger the security of Israel, right?

Biden followed up his call to create another Arab terrorist state along Israel’s borders by warning that a nuclear war simply cannot be won, “and must never be fought,” warning that Russia is “making irresponsible nuclear threats to use nuclear weapons,” and that China has conducted an “unprecedented, concerning nuclear buildup without any transparency” despite US diplomatic efforts.

On Iran, the president said “while the United States is prepared for a mutual return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (the dead-in-the-water 2015 nuclear deal Iran signed with world powers) if Iran steps up to its obligations, the United States is clear: we will not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon.”

The only problem is, Iran isn’t asking anyone, let alone seeking permission from the United States. And by the time the US gets serious about a military option — if in fact it does at all — Iran will have created an arsenal of atomic weapons.

Unless Israel makes good on its own threat to ensure Iran will never be able to do so.

First Digital Translation of Mishneh Torah Interconnected with Other Jewish Texts Goes Online

 

A complete English translation of the Mishneh Torah interconnected with other Jewish texts is being digitally offered for the first time ever by the nonprofit organization Sefaria, which digitizes and shares Jewish texts for free in Hebrew along with translations and commentaries.

“We are so excited for learners to dive into this rich text and share their reflections with each other and the world,” said Sara Wolkenfeld, Sefaria’s chief learning officer. “For the Jewish people, our texts are our collective inheritance. They belong to everyone and we want them to be available to everyone, in the public domain or with creative commons licenses.”

The Mishneh Torah, authored by the medieval Torah scholar Maimonides, commonly known as the Rambam, between 1170 and 1180, while he lived in Egypt, consists of 14 books and is a major code of Jewish religious law. Users can access it on Sefaria’s website and through the Sefaria app.

The translation provided by Sefaria was completed between 1986 and 2007 by Rabbi Eliyahu Touger. The text on the Sefaria website comes with Hebrew commentaries; interlinking to other religious texts, to help readers understand the work; and topic tagging so they can research related ideas that interest them.

The Sefaria website also allows users to create shareable source sheets that incorporate religious texts from Sefaria’s catalogue with their own commentary.

Sefaria is used by more than 500,000 people each month, including students, educators and scholars.

"Ushamnu Me'kol Am" from the composer Cantor Gershon Sirota

 

What;s With the "Fish-Head" on Rosh Hashana?

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Zᴇʜᴀᴠɪᴛ Rᴏꜱᴇɴʙʟᴏᴏᴍ Vᴀᴋɴɪɴ (@zeya_comedy)

AG Barr Calls Letitia James’ Lawsuit ‘Political Hit Job’ and ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’

 

Bill Barr tells Fox that NYAG Letitia James "grossly overreaches when she tries to drag the children into this" because Eric, Don Jr., and Ivanka, are not "expected in the real world to due their own due diligence." pic.twitter.com/dIyFhe9XrO

— nikki mccann ramírez (@NikkiMcR) September 21, 2022

 Far-left Laetitia James has filed a massive lawsuit against the Trump family, accusing them of civil fraud.

This is another example of Trump-haters on the left weaponizing the justice system against the former President.

Even Bill Barr, who has been critical of President Trump recently, called this a “political hit job” and said this is an “example of…Trump derangement syndrome.”

This lawsuit by the Democrat NY Attorney General, who relishes the spotlight, is the latest in a series of political witch-hunts.

Donald Trump has been exonerated more times than Joe Biden has said “Come on man!”, yet they continue to find new things to investigate.

Former Attorney General William Barr said on Fox News that the suit is a “political hit job” and James is guilty of “gross overreach” for dragging Trump’s children in.

“It’s hard for me not to conclude it’s a political hit job,” Barr said. “I’m not even sure if she has a good case against Trump himself. But what ultimately persuades me that this is a political hit job is she grossly overreaches when she tries to drag the children into this.”

“Yes, they had roles in the business,” he continued. “But this was his personal financial statement. It was prepared by the CFO, accounting firms were involved in it. Listen, the children aren’t going to know the details of that … nor are they expected in the real world to do their own due diligence.”

James announced the $250 million civil lawsuit against Trump, in addition to Don Jr, Ivanka, and Eric. In the massive 200 page lawsuit, she accused the Trumps of manipulating asset value, and is seeking to ban them from being “an officer or director in any corporation” or similar entity in New York.

Both Eric and Donald Jr. have tweeted clips of James’s past remarks, in which she pledged to make life difficult for President Trump.

“I think [it] is gonna end up backfiring on them because I think it will make people sympathetic for Trump. This is another example of people piling on because of a Trump derangement syndrome,” Barr added.

Barr famously had a falling out with Trump at the end of his tenure, over Barr’s refusal to agree that the 2020 election was stolen.